Airborne Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) for peat analyses in the Canadian Northern wetlands study

The study was conducted as part of the NASA Biospherics Research on Emissions from Wetlands (BREW) program. An important aspect of the program is to investigate the terrestrial production and atmospheric distribution of methane and other gases contributing to global warming. Multi-kilometer transects of airborne (helicopter) Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) data were collected periodically along the 100 km distance from the coast inland so as to obtain a regional trend in peat depth and related parameters. Global Positioning System (GPS) data were simultaneously collected from the helicopter to properly georeference the GPR data. Additional 50 m ground-based transects of GPR data were also collected as a source of ground truthing, as a calibration aid for the airborne data sets, and as a source of higher resolution data for characterizing the strata within the peat. In situ peat depth probing and soil characterizations from excavated soil pits were used to verify GPR findings. Results from the ground-based data are presented

How Will the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 Affect Children?

Summarizes how reform provisions including the mandate, expanded Medicaid coverage, and changes to parents' coverage will affect children in families of different income levels. Explores possible limitations for Children's Health Insurance Programs

Improving the Lives of Young Children: The Role of Developmental Screenings in Medicaid and CHIP

Outlines barriers to early identification of health, developmental, or behavioral problems. Recommends policies to increase Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program enrollment, Well-Child Visits and screenings, and use of data to improve policies

Improving the Lives of Young Children: Increasing Referrals and Follow-Up Treatment in Medicaid and CHIP

Outlines factors limiting referrals and treatment for children in public insurance programs, including low reimbursement rates and complex billing rules and fragmentation between primary care and treatment providers. Recommends state policy options

Setting Income Thresholds in Medicaid/SCHIP: Which Children Should Be Eligible?

Outlines the debate over raising income limits for eligibility in Medicaid and State Children's Health Insurance Programs. Examines how employer-sponsored insurance costs have outpaced income growth and considers the implications for the uninsured rate

Utility of remotely sensed data for identification of soil conservation practices

Discussed are a variety of remotely sensed data sources that may have utility in the identification of conservation practices and related linear features. Test sites were evaluated in Alabama, Kansas, Mississippi, and Oklahoma using one or more of a variety of remotely sensed data sources, including color infrared photography (CIR), LANDSAT Thematic Mapper (TM) data, and aircraft-acquired Thermal Infrared Multispectral Scanner (TIMS) data. Both visual examination and computer-implemented enhancement procedures were used to identify conservation practices and other linear features. For the Kansas, Mississippi, and Oklahoma test sites, photo interpretations of CIR identified up to 24 of the 109 conservation practices from a matrix derived from the SCS National Handbook of Conservation Practices. The conservation practice matrix was modified to predict the possibility of identifying the 109 practices at various photographic scales based on the observed results as well as photo interpreter experience. Some practices were successfully identified in TM data through visual identification, but a number of existing practices were of such size and shape that the resolution of the TM could not detect them accurately. A series of computer-automated decorrelation and filtering procedures served to enhance the conservation practices in TM data with only fair success. However, features such as field boundaries, roads, water bodies, and the Urban/Ag interface were easily differentiated. Similar enhancement techniques applied to 5 and 10 meter TIMS data proved much more useful in delineating terraces, grass waterways, and drainage ditches as well as the features mentioned above, due partly to improved resolution and partly to thermally influenced moisture conditions. Spatially oriented data such as those derived from remotely sensed data offer some promise in the inventory and monitoring of conservation practices as well as in supplying parameter data for a variety of computer-implemented agricultural models

Applications of TIMS data in agricultural areas and related atmospheric considerations

While much of traditional remote sensing in agricultural research was limited to the visible and reflective infrared, advances in thermal infrared remote sensing technology are adding a dimension to digital image analysis of agricultural areas. The Thermal Infrared Multispectral Scanner (TIMS) an airborne sensor having six bands over the nominal 8.2 to 12.2 m range, offers the ability to calculate land surface emissivities unlike most previous singular broadband sensors. Preliminary findings on the utility of the TIMS for several agricultural applications and related atmospheric considerations are discussed

POULTRY LITTER FOR CORN EXCHANGE PROGRAM FOR VIRGINIA

Crop Production/Industries, Livestock Production/Industries,

The Health Status of New Medicaid Enrollees Under Health Reform

Examines the demographic and health data of those newly eligible for Medicaid coverage, whether younger and healthier or older and less healthy than current enrollees, and how they will affect costs depending on participation rates

Prospects for Reducing Uninsured Rates Among Children: How Much Can Premium Assistance Programs Help?

Examines the efficacy of premium assistance under Medicaid and State Children's Health Insurance Programs in extending coverage for children through a parent's employer-sponsored insurance. Considers policy implications for expanding public insurance